forced to pay back millions instead of rebuilding? SIGN THE OXFAM PETITION TO CANCEL HAITI'S FOREIGN DEBT

from oxfam america, literally takes less than 15 seconds. please sign the petition linked below to urge the international monetary fund (imf) to cancel haiti's foreign debt. read on:
_______________________________________________________

Dear Jeremy,

Sign the petition:
Cancel Haiti's debt NOW!Haiti could be forced to send millions to foreign lenders instead of using it to rebuild their country.Sign the petition to the IMF Board of Directors today!

As you read this, Oxfam's staff is rushing clean water and emergency supplies to earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince, who are now reeling from a 6.1-magnitude aftershock yesterday.

But while our immediate focus will remain emergency relief, one major threat could still hamper all efforts to rebuild this country: Haiti's crushing foreign debt.

Oxfam and other groups have helped extract a laudable commitment from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cancel Haiti's debt. But we need your voice to get them to actually follow through on their promise without delay.

Will you help? Please, join us in urging the IMF to cancel Haiti's foreign debt now – before the world looks away!

I can't stress enough how significantly debt cancellation would help the people of Haiti.

Even before the earthquake, Haiti was weighed down by debt. They owed over $891 million to the IMF and other lenders.

The worst part: it wasn't the fault of the Haitian people. Over and over again, Haiti's people have inherited a legacy of debt from loans taken out by dictators and un-elected governments.

If these debts aren't canceled, Haiti will be sending tens of millions to the United States, the IMF and other international bodies even as it struggles to rebuild.

Some countries' debts were canceled after the 2004 tsunami, so we have a chance to convince world leaders to do the same for Haiti. And time is of the essence – leaders are meeting on Monday to decide on the amount of aid they'll give Haiti, and though the IMF has said they will "work to cancel the debt," they haven't made any commitment about when this will happen. They have promised to convert a $100 million IMF loan to Haiti into a grant, but we must ensure they follow through on that as well.

You can make sure the IMF gets past the finish line and doesn't stop halfway.

Please sign our petition to the IMF right now! Urge them to cancel Haiti's debt – and make sure that earthquake relief doesn't create a new debt burden.

Here at Oxfam, we never tackle short-term problems without considering long-term solutions.

That's why – even as our relief teams on the ground are helping Haiti's people survive the short-term devastation – we are committed to addressing the debt that kept Haiti trapped in a cycle of deadly poverty even before the earthquake hit.

Please, add your name now!

Sincerely,

Raymond Offenheiser
Oxfam America

P.S. After you take action, please forward this email to a friend or post a message to Facebook or Twitter – help us spread the word!

P.P.S. I also wanted to share a remarkable article with you from today's Washington Post about the extraordinary courage of Yolette Etienne, Oxfam's lead staffer in Haiti, and the human toll the earthquake has taken. Read it here.